Best person to illustrate each of these political concepts? (HELP!)

[bbernardini]

I'm doing a PowerPoint presentation for my grad class, and part of it might be brief explanations of each of the following political concepts:

Liberal
Conservative
Libertarian
Neocon
Neolib

Who would you say are the best modern examples of each of these? I was thinking about including a picture on each slide that goes with the definition.

(For those who really want to know, the presentation is a research proposal about political bias in music education philosophy research.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I'll give it a shot...

Liberal: Paul Wellstone
Conservative: John McCain
Libertarian: I really couldn't say
Neocon: Rumsfield
Neolib: Any DLC member'll do

[Fleshdancer]

2. Is there any limitations on the type of people we can choose?...

Can they be from anywhere in the world, alive or dead, or US centric and more current?

[bbernardini]

4. More current would be ideal, living or dead not as important

[Squeech]

3. Ambiguity

Not sure there's any living practicing politician who exemplifies any of these concepts. The actors and the motivations have changed over time.

Here's my choices:

Liberal: Bobby Kennedy
Conservative: Barry Goldwater
Libertarian: never observed in the wild
Neocon: Dick Cheney
Neolib: Rudy Giuliani (note that neolib is not that far from neocon-- in the neolib world view, you don't necessarily get your ass shot off in an unprovoked war, but the corporations still own you)

You might have better luck using musicians. Here's some guesses (based on their music, not their actual personalities):

Liberal: Beethoven, Mahler (celebrates the triumphant human spirit, adapts form and technique for artistic reasons)
Conservative: Brahms, Strauss (the old ways are the best)
Libertarian: Debussy, Charles Ives
Neocon: John Adams (who wrote Nixon in China)
Neolib: Steve Reich

Your mileage may vary, of course.

[bbernardini]

5. Kick!